Entering the Edwardian…

One of the schools I work for is doing a production of JB Priestly’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ in February, and our stock of Edwardian fashion is… non-existent. Since the cast is small, we decided to build the women’s dresses – which means two evening dresses and a maid’s outfit. Exciting!

This week, I’ve been working on the toile for Sheila, the daughter – the unbleached muslin will be a heavy peachy-pink satin. The light blue is a sheer pink chiffon, and the white is the pink chiffon with a lace net overlay:

Looks simple, right? Well, let’s break it down. That white overlay will hook directly to the dress. Let’s take that off:

One that is unhooked, then we need to unhook the overskirt (the blue, here – it will be a sheer chiffon on the actual dress:

The front bodice panel will open like so, to reveal an underbodice which closes with hooks and eyes. The skirt has a center front opening which will close flush with snaps, which the overskirt hides.

That’s an awful lot of closures! For such simple looking little dresses, these Edwardian frocks are complicated to get in and out of!

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